


Our Love Burns Like A Bunsen Burner

by ultravioletrainbows (orphan_account)



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Awkwardness, M/M, Mild Language, Stupidity, just a little bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-09 23:27:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7821430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/ultravioletrainbows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After having focused 2 years on fencing, Jackson was repeating his 3rd year of high school. Everything was fine until he got partnered up with one certain Kim Yugyeom for a chemistry group project.</p><p> </p><p>Jackbum friendship and mentioned 2young in later chapters</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Baby, you're so bomb, you blow me up

**Author's Note:**

> Jackson is hard to write, please bear with me. Also this is me trying to do a chaptered story.

"I just can't believe my luck!" Jackson groaned and threw himself on Jaebum's bed with a huff.  
"I know, Jackson. You've been saying that for the last hour. Please stop abusing my bed." Jaebum said dryly from his desk where he had tried to study before Jackson had destroyed his peace.  
"At least you're done with all this shit. You don't have to worry about high school and group projects anymore." He grumbled, "You _university student_." He said it like a swear word, but Jaebum was unfazed. He even had the audacity to grin. Jackson threw the cushion into his face for good measure.

2 years ago they still had been at the same school, in the same class and in the same detention like they always used to. They had met in elementary school and Jackson had dragged Jaebum into everything until Jaebum’s acquiescence became friendship and they had chosen a combined middle and high school, making sure that they would be together in future too. They used to be the troublemakers in their class, always together in their shenanigans. But then, Jackson had focused more and more on his fencing until he was barely able to visit class. He traveled from one successful tournament to the next and practiced as often as he could.

With his many absences due to fencing matches, he was unable to finish his third year of high school. He didn’t mind, he had still his fencing, but watching Jaebum go to university and his younger friends graduate, made him want to go back. Also, things in life were always easier with a high-school diploma. The dean was nice enough to give him a chance and he was thankful. He had to dye his blond hair back to black, and had to take off his earrings and ear piercings, but that was a small sacrifice.

So while Jaebum got the taste of studying for something he was actually interested in at university, Jackson went through his last year of high school and unwanted and unneeded subjects again.

Though, that was not really his problem. (Really, if he thought about it, it was easier now to force Jaebum into giving him his old homework since the teachers wouldn't notice anyway- or, at least most of them didn't.) He loved fencing, it was his top priority and if that meant he had to redo his last year of high school later, well, he had been willing to accept that. What he was not accepting were the chemistry group projects and the people he was partnered up with.

"But why do you actually hate Yugyeom so much?" Jaebum asked, throwing the pillow back.  
"I don't hate him. Like, I don't have a problem being in a class with him. But I don't want to work with him. He's so awkward and weird and he's listening to everyone, doing the things the teachers ask of him and he’s so well-behaved and diligent! Like the opposite of me! Did you know that I’m known as the delinquent in this class?" He chuckled.  
Jaebum frowned. "Are you sure we're talking about the same Yugyeom?"  
"I'm pretty sure, tall, handsome and a stupid grin like a sunflower. Bambam introduced us at one of his parties once and that guy was as awkward as a single sock with a hole in the toe."  
Jaebum smirked, "So you think he's handsome?"  
"Jayyybeeeee~ That's not the point!"  
"Could you please stop calling me JB?" He sighed.  
"Okay, okay. In middle school you thought those names were cool, but okay. I'm Sorry, _Defsoul_."  
"You!" He jumped up and threw himself on Jackson, suffocating him until he admitted defeat.

\---

Jackson sighed as he entered the school gates of their combined middle and high school. Though, middle schoolers and high schoolers only shared the gates and a sports ground, each had their own building and schoolyard. (He watched a group of middle schoolers next to him and couldn’t believe he once was as short as them. (“You’re still as short as them”, Jaebum would say.)) A few of his classmates walked past him without greeting him, but he was used to that. He had tried the first week to get along with them in his usual energetic way, but they made it obvious that they didn’t want to, so he didn't bother anymore. It was only a year anyway.

The talk with Jaebum the previous day didn't do much to make this all better for him. He thought of Yugyeom as a nice guy, but the incident on Bambam’s party and his behaviour since the first day with Jackson in his class made it clear, that he was uncomfortable around him. Which made it not exactly easy for Jackson to be around him either. Jackson thought it was probably mainly due to the whole model student versus delinquent image.

Starting today, he would be working with Yugyeom 3 days a week for a month. 12 classes. It couldn't be that hard, could it?

Jackson arrived first and went to their designated seats. The row of experiments they were supposed to do started off with a simple one where they measured the solubility of different chemicals in water under different temperatures. This really shouldn't be a problem.

"Uh, good morning." Came a small voice from behind. Jackson turned and saw Yugyeom standing awkwardly next to him. He wasn't looking at Jackson, fumbled clumsily with his backpack and sat down a bit further from him, hiding his face behind the bag.  
"Yeah, hi." Jackson answered dryly. Awesome. If it was going to be like this the whole time, this would be a loooooong project. The older took Yugyeom's bag from the table and pulled his chair closer. "If you sit so far people might think I smell, please don't make people think I smell." Yugyeom giggled at the comment and Jackson could feel his stomach churn. 'Ugh, what kind of sound was that!'

He didn’t think further about the weird feeling. “So, Yugyeom, are you good in chemistry?” He tried to start a conversation instead.  
“I’m... rather a physics guy.” Yugyeom told the table.  
“Yeeeaaah! Awesome! I let JB do all my chemistry homework.” Jackson cheered like it was a good thing, “I’m just gonna fetch the chemicals and you get the beakers and bunsen burner.” He stood up and went to the cupboard with the chemical bottles and boxes. He wasn’t sure what exactly they were supposed to solute in water, so he took just some that sounded interesting.

When he came back, Yugyeom had already set up the bunsen burner and different beakers with water. Putting the chemicals down onto the table, he sat down next to Yugyeom again. They sat awkwardly for a while until Yugyeom mumbled “So, you know JB?” at the same time the teacher started the class and his question got lost under the teacher’s speech. Though, it was not like Jackson was listening to the teacher anyway, and even if he would, it would get in one ear and out the other. When the teacher was done, Jackson and Yugyeom readied the first beaker and chemical to be used.

Jackson stood up, leaning over the bunsen burner, and fumbled with the settings. "Be careful!" Yugyeom warned and took his hand away before Jackson could accidentally burn it. In this action, Yugyeom had pulled him to his chest and Jackson felt an irritating crawl along his spine. This guy was so fucking tall. No wonder Jackson felt unreasonably angry at him. Or at least that was what he thought this rumbling in his chest was. He looked up and and felt like he saw Yugyeom's handsome features for the first time. But then Yugyeom pushed him away with a mumbled "Sorry." And again, Yugyeom was looking at anything but Jackson. He put the bunsen burner to a reasonable setting. They put the beaker with the water above the burner and waited. After a while Jackson noticed something. “Aren’t we supposed to measure the temperature?”  
“...”  
“...”  
“...”  
“You didn’t get us a thermometer?!”  
“I thought you’d get it!” Yugyeom grumbled and went away with a pout. When he came back with the measure tool, they realized that their water had gotten too hot for the experiment that was supposed to come first.  
“Let’s just start with the next one and do that later.” Jackson suggested and Yugyeom nodded.

“Are you sure that’s the right stuff?” Yugyeom asked warily as Jackson added the chemicals into the water.  
“Yes. Well, no, but are you?”  
Yugyeom bit his lower lip and shook his head. It took Jackson too long to stare at how the lip was released from the teeth again, red and flush, that he didn’t notice the happenings inside the beaker.  
“Jackson, look!” Yugyeom slapped him on the shoulder.  
“Ouch! Don’t be so hard on me man- Ohh shit shit shiT SHIT SHI-”

\-----

“How the fuck did you manage to blow up a classroom in a solubility experiment?!” Jaebum laughed through the phone.  
“Oh shut up” Jackson growled at Jaebum and at the hushing people in the waiting room who looked at him disapprovingly.  
“Excuse me, sir,” a nurse came towards him, “it’s forbidden to make phone calls in the hospital. If you’d please…”  
Jackson nodded that he just needed a moment and the nurse took off, taking care of another patient.  
“Jackson, you’re at the hospital?! Are you hurt?” Jaebum sounded suddenly worried.  
“No, but Yugyeom burned his hand a little bit. I have to go, gonna talk to you later, bye.” He hung up before Jaebum could ask any weird questions. He felt guilty as it was and he didn’t need Jaebum’s nagging now.

Yugyeom came out of the doctor's room and bowed with a happy smile on his face. Jackson saw the hand that was thickly bandaged and felt another sprout of guilt. He jumped up and walked towards Yugyeom. But as soon as the younger boy saw him, his smile slipped from his face and he walked past Jackson with his head down.

“Yugyeom, wait.” Jackson ran after him out of the hospital. “I’m sorry about your hand. I should have paid more attention to the experiment.”  
“It’s not your fault Jackson.” Yugyeom replied lowly.  
“No no, it _is_ my fault. I shouldn’t have taken just random chemicals and I- well, I should have paid more attention! I’ll write your class notes- or maybe I’ll get someone else to write them. I’ll always be there to help you, though I won’t be going on the toilet with you, you got to find a way there. I’ll bring you lunch!” he exclaimed excitedly, “That you can eat with your left hand! And-” Yugyeom stopped abruptly and Jackson crashed into him. Turning around, the taller one sighed.

“Jackson, it’s okay, really. I don’t need your pity.” He started to walk again towards the subway station and scanned his train card, slipping through the barriers. Jackson blinked for a moment, flabbergasted, before he followed him, jumping over them instead.  
“Pity?! You think I’m here because I pity you?!”  
Yugyeom bit the insides of his cheeks, showing that he really didn’t want to have this conversation. “Yeah, of course, you hate me! So why else would I get your attention?” He breathed out bitterly.  
“Because I hurt you and I feel guilty about it!” Jackson knew his voice was loud and people were looking at them, but he didn’t care. “I- What?! I don’t hate you! Where did you get that idea from?!”  
“Well,” Yugyeom huffed, “I got eyes, you know. I can see how you’re open and outspoken to everyone, but with me, you- You know what, it doesn’t matter. I just hope you can handle me for another 11 days. If they let us continue, that is.”  
Jackson gawked. “Me handling you? I don’t know if you checked, but I’m pretty sure they put me, the unbearable troublemaker, with you, the zealous teacher’s pet, to handle _me_.”  
Yugyeom’s eyes widened and for the first time, it seemed to Jackson, Yugyeom was actually looking at him. “You think I’m zealous?” Yugyeom’s unbelieving laughter got buried under the arriving train, “A teacher’s pet? Really?”

Jackson didn't know what to say and he only realized how long he must have been silent, when Yugyeom said “Meet me tomorrow here, in front of the station. 7.30 PM.” and slipped into the train as the doors were closing, leaving Jackson no chance to reply.


	2. Baby, is this a dance floor or why do you floor me so? (In a good sense, I mean...)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackson needs to tell it Jaebum only about 36 times until he believes that this is _not a date!_

“So he asked you out on a date?” Jaebum asked from a corner of Jackson’s bed where the clothes the younger was throwing hadn’t reached yet and slurped leisurely on his lollipop.  
“This. Is not a date.” Jackson huffed, standing in front of the mirror and holding several sets of clothes in front of him. He threw the plaid shirt his mom had once forced on him into the direction of the bed. There was no way he was wearing that and maybe it could be to some use and hit Jaebum’s face. It came short about 1 meter. Jaebum looked unimpressed as it floated to the floor.  
“Yeah sure, that’s why you’re digging through your wardrobe like a lovesick high school girl, oh well, the ‘lovesick’ and ‘high school’ part are right.” He gestured with the lollipop to the mess on the bed.  
“I’m not lovesick! I’m Yugyeom-sick! This boy can’t even look me in the eye and he mumbles all the time and- and- he’s so tall!” Jackson ended his rant with an exasperated pose, but the older boy on the bed only cocked a judgemental eyebrow at him. With a huff he threw a shirt into Jaebum’s face and this time, it hit him.  
“That shirt has lollipop stains now.” Jaebum picked it up and threw it into a corner he knew was Jackson’s ‘need-to-get-that-into-the-washer’ corner.

\---

It was 7.18 PM when Jackson arrived in front of the station. He refused to listen to his inner Jaebum voice nagging that he was like a lovesick high schooler on his first date. He was not. He was just really curious what Yugyeom had planned. Nervously, he adjusted his cap and wondered if his black shirt and baggy trousers were making him look short. Maybe he should have gone with the skin tight jeans Jaebum had suggested. They had indeed accentuated his ass nicely, but alas, _he was not on a date_. So he wore the most comfortable stuff he’d usually wear when going out for groceries.

“Hey. You really came.” Yugyeom’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Jackson turned to greet him but the ‘hey’ was stuck in his throat. He wore a light red colored shirt under his button decorated leather jacket. His hair was pulled up from his forehead and styled to the side, making his face look smaller, older and even more handsome. He wore the skin tight jeans Jackson had been contemplating, but was now glad he actually didn’t wear. Next to Yugyeom he would have looked funny with his thick thighs pressed into them as they wouldn’t have the same effect they had on Yugyeom: making his legs look even longer and prettier.

Jackson realized he was staring and coughed awkwardly his ‘Hey’, but if Yugyeom noticed, he didn’t mentioned it.  
“You’re here early. Let’s go.” Yugyeom started to walk towards the bus stop and Jackson noted that he seemed a little bit more confident than usual. The bandage on his hand was gone and instead a few skin colored plasters covered it. Jackson felt another pang of guilt and it must have shown on his face as Yugyeom hid his bad hand in his jacket pocket.

They took the bus (Jackson was a bit surprised as Yugyeom even paid for him) and drove for a while. They didn’t talk, but the silence wasn’t as awkward as it had been at the beginning of their chemistry class.  
Jackson thought about something to say. He was known as the big talker, this shouldn’t be a problem. “You look good in these clothes.” Well, it was something. Not really something he had wanted to say out loud but not a lie either.  
“Thank you, you look really good too.” Yugyeom answered and laughed shyly. Jackson turned around to look out of the window for a moment. He couldn’t be entirely sure if the effects of the wild pumping in his chest wasn’t showing on his face too.  
“Where are we going?” He dared to ask when he was sure his face was okay again.  
Yugyeom grinned at him mischievously and Jackson couldn’t deny himself that he looked really cute like that.  
“You’ll have to see.” he said and turned his gaze back to the fingers in his lap. Jackson hummed and looked out the window again, drumming a rhythm with his fingers against the glass pane.

They had been sitting in the bus for about 20 minutes, when Yugyeom told him that they needed to get off. He led Jackson through a few streets turning left and right and another left here, until Jackson was sure he’d never find his way back. They ended up in a back alley and as Yugyeom opened a lonesome door, Jackson could hear music play lowly from downstairs. Yugyeom walked down the stairs and Jackson followed, looking around as the filthy hallways got cleaner and more colored, littered with posters of bands and music festivals. The music got louder and when they arrived at the bottom of the steps, Jackson could see that this was a small club with a small table at the entrance that looked like it served as a kind of reception desk. Yugyeom greeted the small, round faced boy behind it, who smiled at him cutely in response.

“Hey, Youngjae. Wouldn’t have thought to see you here. What does Jinyoung say?”  
Youngjae groaned. “We got in a quarrel. You know how he is, he doesn’t want me to work here and I don’t want to take his money.”  
“Stubborn as ever, you two.” Yugyeom chuckled. “Are you still aiming for that renowned vocal class?”  
The small boy grinned and Jackson felt like the whole room got suddenly too bright.

“Anyway, you’re early today?” Youngjae grinned and wiggled his eyebrows, Yugyeom blushed and suddenly got shy again. He blushed even harder when the other continued, “Who’s your hot boyfriend over there?”  
Yugyeom yelled “No, we’re not together!” at the same time Jackson blurted “We’re only classmates!” They looked at each other embarrassed.  
The receptionist widened his eyes, but nodded. “Okay, that was convincing.” He giggled and pulled out some kind of account book. “Are you participating again today?”  
“Yeah of course, unless you’re my opponent again.” Yugyeom chuckled and Youngjae laughed loudly. Jackson looked irritated back and forth between them, missing the joke.

They talked about names and stuff Jackson didn’t know and couldn’t comprehend without any context, so instead of listening he looked around the club. There was a large DJ set at the back of the huge room and a raised stage was set in the middle, though no one danced on it, everybody was standing or dancing around it. A small bar graced the corner in the left. The room was relatively dark, which was normal for a club, but Jackson missed the flashing lights. He was pulled out of his thoughts as Youngjae addressed him. “Is your friend going to place a bet, too?” Jackson looked at them questioningly.  
“No, he’s just here to watch.” Yugyeom answered for him and Jackson wanted to retort until he remembered that he didn’t even have money to bet anyway. Whatever he was supposed to bet on.

Youngjae wished Yugyeom good luck and the two stepped finally into the club. “So, you brought me to a club.” Jackson deflated. It didn’t even look like a good one. The music was rather boring and the people unamused.  
Yugyeom laughed, “Well, it’s a bit different from a usual club. Do you want something to drink? A beer?”  
“Are you even old enough to drink?” he frowned, “I take a coke.”  
Yugyeom raised his eyebrows at him. “The spoilt delinquent drinking coke? Wow, that’s really rebellious.” he chuckled without malice.  
“I’m not a delinquent, I just do what I want. And I want coke.”  
Yugyeom got them two bottles of coke and handed one to Jackson. “Is that also why you’re doing the 3rd year of highschool again?”  
Jackson took a sip out of his bottle before he shrugged and answered. “Well, yeah, it’s still easier to reach something in life when you got a high-school diploma. So you’re not drinking beer, huh. Responsible.”  
“Well, I need to be fit and sober for the fight later.”  
Jackson choked on his coke and it came through his nose. “Urgh.. uh, wha-what fight? Is this an underground fight club or something?” he screeched with wide eyes, but Yugyeom just laughed at him.  
“You’ll see.” he grinned shyly.

Yugyeom glanced at the DJ table as someone was walking up behind it and prepared their stuff.  
“Oh, so Mark’s going to be the DJ for today.” he mumbled and Jackson looked at the dangly boy with the pretty face behind the DJ set.  
“He’s a DJ? But there’s already music playing?” Jackson asked confused.  
“Well yeah, during the battle we need different music, that’s always provided by a DJ. (“Like ‘Eye of a Tiger’?”) Most of the times JB used to do it, but he’s busy with studying, so Mark took over for him. We have a lot of other DJs too though.” Yugyeom explained. Jackson was looking at him with eyes as huge as saucers. “JB??!! You mean Im fucking Jaebum?!!” Yugyeom shrugged his shoulders in a confirmation. “No wait, I need to process that! I knew he was DJing somewhere that’s not- he lets you call him ‘JB’??!“ Jackson continued and Yugyeom shrugged again, “Well yes, that’s what he calls himself.”  
"But... he never likes it when I say it?!" Jackson complained.  
Yugyeom laughed "Yeah, he always says he's not really fond of the name to begin with but you always manage to make it sound even stupider."  
Jackson pouted and Yugyeom laughed even harder (and more high pitched) and slapped his shoulder.  
This meant revenge. "You know what you should call him the next time?" Jackson couldn't hide his mischievous tone, "Defsoul! He made up that name in elementary school and he hates that one even more!"  
Yugyeom laughed and Jackson giggled, finding that he somehow liked the way Yugyeom laughed loudly while still managing to look shy and embarrassed.

“Uhmm Hi.” A low voice sounded through the speakers and it took Jackson a moment until he realized it was the DJ who had spoken. “How are y’all? Are you good?” A cheer sounded through the room and the DJ laughed. Jackson was sure that just half of the room swooned.  
“It’s time for our weekly battle, who is excited?” There was another cheer, louder this time. “Today we have the honor to greet our champion again, Yugyeom!” All eyes were turned on Yugyeom and Jackson felt a bit out of place standing next to him. Yugyeom grinned shyly and made a peace sign with his left hand. The DJ announced a few other fighters, but Jackson wasn’t interested in them.  
“Champion, huh?”  
Yugyeom bit his lip and Jackson really wished he wouldn’t. “Well yeah, I like doing this.”  
“Fighting???” Jackson asked incredulously.  
“Noooo! We-” Yugyeom wanted to explain, but he was called to the stage. “Just watch.” He said with a smirk as he walked up.

“The first match - Yugyeom vs Minwoo. I’m your DJ and judge Mark and today’s music will be this. Fair fight!” And with that, loud electronic music blasted through the speakers and the people cheered as the fighters started to get ready, moving leisurely with the beat. And then, Yugyeom started to dance.

Jackson could basically feel his jaw dislocate. Yugyeom’s movements were fluid, his limbs moving in a way that Jackson didn’t know was humanly possible. He danced for a moment and then his opponent started with his own freestyle dance. Jackson hadn’t much knowledge of this, but he could instantly see, that Yugyeom was the better one. Even if he was a little biased. When it was Yugyeom’s turn again, he pulled himself together and started to cheer as loudly as he could with the rest of the audience. Yugyeom danced even better now that he got used to the music. Jackson felt like a crushing fangirl in his euphoria, but he never felt better and more excited.

After a few turns, Mark announced Yugyeom the winner and the audience cheered in agreement. They came down from the stage to make way for the next dance battle. When Yugyeom reached Jackson, he was grinning from ear to ear. He was slightly out of breath, but Jackson was too from all that shouting.  
“So, you dance.” Jackson breathed.  
“Yeah. And you liked it, I could hear your voice even on the stage.”  
“That’s why you were so amazing, wasn’t it? Because I was here to cheer you on?”  
Yugyeom blushed and laughed, but nodded in the end.  
“You really _were_ amazing though!”  
“Thank you.“ Yugyeom breathed as the blush on his cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.

Yugyeom danced a few times more and Jackson was screaming and cheering so loud that even the DJ took a moment to announce, “I see Yugyeom brought his very own personal groupie with him today. Thank god this competition is not decided by audience cheers, no one would stand a chance.”

It was late, or early, however one looked at it, when they went down the road back to the bus stop. Jackson pushed his hands into his pockets, it was colder than he had assumed. Yugyeom threw his jacket across his shoulders and Jackson grumbled. “Am I your damsel in distress? What about you?”  
The younger giggled. “I’m still warm from all the dancing. And if I get cold, I’ll just continue to dance, like this.” He moved slowly with their steps.  
“Show off!” Jackson laughed but started to cheer right after. “Go Yugyeom! Go Yugyeom!”  
Yugyeom started to dance in more earnest and laughed when Jackson whooped. They knew they were far too loud for the time of day, but they didn’t care.

“So, what exactly did you want to prove today?” Jackson asked when Yugyeom was out of breath and stopped dancing again.  
Yugyeom seemed to think a while, squinting his eyes and frowning.  
“You forgot!” Jackson laughed.  
“I did not! I just- I had a nice wording in my head but now I’m all worn out and I can’t think of it- Ah, right! I wanted to show you that I’m as less a diligent teacher’s pet as you’re a delinquent. I just do what I want and I happen to like school, so I’m good in the subjects that I like -which, honestly, chemistry is no part of.”, he chuckled and Jackson joined him. “I wanted to prove that just because something looks like a stereotype, it could be totally different.”  
“Well, yeah, you did prove that. Though I’m glad you're not an actual underground fighter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> critics are welcome


	3. Baby, are you a beatboxer, you're beating me. (Please let me win this game just once!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There goes another chemistry room...

When Jackson walked into the chemistry room the next day, he was greeted with narrowed eyes by their teacher. Yugyeom was already at their table and setting up their equipment. He greeted him and the younger greeted back with a huge smile. Jackson felt his chest swell with happiness and his heart flutter. Things were so much better now.  
“You’re finally looking at me. Like you do at Bambam” He thought.  
Yugyeom stopped at what he was doing and Jackson realized he had thought too loud.  
“Huh?” the younger questioned intelligently.  
“Eh, nothing.” Jackson scrambled to unpack his bag just to have something to do, but Yugyeom wouldn’t have it. He laid a hand on Jackson's arm to stop him from fumbling.  
“No, I heard what you said. But what does that even mean?”  
“Uh, well, I mean…” Jackson looked into Yugyeom’s innocent, expectant eyes. When he had to look away, he focused on a loose string on his backpack instead. “It’s-it’s not difficult to see how much you admire him. And- I mean, you always used to avoid even looking at me.”  
Yugyeom grinned shyly. “Well yeah, I thought you hated me, but then you said you didn’t and you made it obvious yesterday that you don’t.” He fumbled with his fingers.  
“That’s it? That was all? Because you thought I hated you?!” Jackson asked incredulously. Yugyeom blushed and bit his lip as he nodded, looking anywhere but Jackson.  
‘He’s such a bad liar!’ Jackson thought and felt a bit hurt.

The teacher just added to Jackson’s hurt as he meticulously checked the chemicals Jackson and Yugyeom had on their desk. “We don’t have any chemistry rooms left, Jackson. Please be careful.”  
“Aye, sir!” he saluted.

They giggled when the teacher went back to make his usual speech about safety and other unimportant things. Being closer this time, Jackson noted how Yugyeom wasn’t listening either. So he tapped him on the shoulder and when Yugyeom turned with a questioning look, he started to move his mouth along with the teacher’s speech and pulled an ugly face. The younger had huge trouble to not burst out laughing. Jackson got worried and stopped with his mimicry when tears started to flow out of his eyes. The teacher finally finished and let them do their experiments. Under the loud bustle of the other students, Yugyeom giggled, tears still flowing, and Jackson clapped his back in condolence. While the other still needed time to calm down, Jackson started the experiment, setting the Bunsen burner like Yugyeom had last time and putting a beaker with chemicals on top of the flame. He grinned at the younger’s red face as he got finally down and only coughed a little bit from time to time.

"Uuhm, Jackson, is it supposed to be doing that?" Yugyeom pointed at the beaker that emitted relentlessly masses of green smoke.  
"Uh-oh." Jackson said and packed his stuff.  
"HOW THE FUCK!!" Their teacher screeched in exasperation when he realized what was going on.  
"Teacher, please don't use such vulgar words in front of your students." Jackson yelled as he ran out of the door, Yugyeom following behind him.

They giggled as they run out of the school building and only stopped when they were outside on the schoolyard. “How did you manage that?” Yugyeom laughed.  
“I don’t know!!” Jackson was equally surprised. He settled down on a bench and unpacked a box. “How about early lunch?”  
“Did you really make lunch for me?!” Just now did Yugyeom realize the plasters around Jackson’s fingers. “Did you make that yourself?! You shouldn’t have!” Yugyeom blushed nevertheless.  
“Of course, I needed to, I still owe you.” Jackson said guiltily.  
“Oh, Jackson, stop it!”, Yugyeom huffed, “First off, you don’t owe me, I didn’t do anything worth for you to be indebted to me. And secondly, I surely did not burn my hand for you to cut your fingers off!”

Jackson chuckled as he thought back to the moment with Jaebum that morning.

 

_{flashback}_

“I still can’t believe you woke me at this shit hour to teach you how to cook!” Jaebum grumbled as he put another plaster on one of Jackson’s fingers. Jackson just grinned up at him.

"Aren't you overdoing it a bit with your guilt?” Jaebum asked, looking doubtfully at Jackson’s injured fingers as he continued to cut the vegetables. “You took the wrong chemicals, okay, but it's not like he knew it better." Jackson flinched. He instantly continued to handle the knife (very carefully) and hoped that Jaebum didn’t notice. But Jaebum’s eyes were as sharp as they looked. “Jackson?” The younger laid the knife down and turned around to face him. He knew he was blushing and chewed on his lower lip.  
"I- well, ... it's not only that." Jackson said sheepishly before he took a deep breath, "if he hadn't pulled me, it would have been my face that would have been burned." Jaebum looked wide eyed at him. "He basically saved me, Jaebum."

_{flashback end}_

 

Yugyeom opened the lid of the large Tupperware box and stopped. “Is that all- Did you make nothing but Kimbap?!” He laughed. Jackson pouted. “Jaebum didn’t want to show me anything else, so yeah, it’s only Kimbap, but! You can eat it with your left hand!”  
Yugyeom chuckled and plopped one of the thickly cut slices into his mouth.  
“Mh! They're really good!” He took another one so both his cheeks were filled and he looked like a cute hamster.

“JACKSON WANG!!!” An angry yell came suddenly out of one of the windows of the school building.  
“What do you think about skipping the rest of school today?” Jackson asked casually without turning to the voice.  
Yugyeom widened his eyes. ‘Won’t this make things worse?’ He wanted to ask, but due to the Kimbap in his mouth it ended up sounding more like “wfomb if mag fimbw ofw?”  
But Jackson ignored the splattering bits of food flying towards his face, having packed already anyway, and took his hand to drag him out of school.

\---

Jackson knew exactly where he was going. He only wondered what Yugyeom would say to his idea. He felt a sense of security and contentment when he heard the various screechy, electronic melodies mingled into one.

“A game arcade, really? People will say you’re bad influence for me.” Yugyeom chuckled. Then he beat Jackson’s ass in a shooter game until the other pouted. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?” He narrowed his eyes and the younger just shrugged his shoulders in obviously fake innocence.  
“Just got lucky.”  
“6 times in a row?!”

Grumbling, Jackson pulled him from one game to the next, always on the search for one where he could be sure he would win. In the end, he chose a car racing game. After a wild drive, pushing opposing cars to the side, Yugyeom reached the goal long before Jackson arrived.

"That's not fair! I got my licence last year! I can actually drive. You can’t!"  
"Nope” Yugyeom grinned cheekily, “I'll make mine next year though and I'm gonna be good at it." He patted the steering wheel.  
Jackson laughed. "If you really drive like this you'll fail though!" He jumped up and looked for another game they could play.

“Oh, look, there’s a DDR! Show what you got, Yugyeom!” Jackson cheered. Yugyeom stepped reluctantly onto the platform. “Honestly,” he rubbed his neck sheepishly, “I’ve never done this.” But instead of laughing at him, as Yugyeom had expected, Jackson screeched happily and jumped onto the other platform. “I can’t believe I’m gonna beat you at a dancing game.” He laughed.

True to his predictions, Jackson won that time. And he never stopped teasing Yugyeom about it. Somehow, they even ended up at Jaebum’s, so that Jackson could retell his win over ‘dancing machine’ Yugyeom to the older boy about six times, before Jaebum was able to shut him up.

“And Yugyeom, how many times did you win?” Jaebum grinned at him.  
“Six times at a shooting game, three times at whac-a-mole, five times at some sort of street fighter imitation, two ti-”  
“Thought so.” Jaebum grinned at the sheepishly looking Jackson, who had slapped a hand over Yugyeom’s mouth.

He turned back to his desk to study. “Well, if that was all…” The oldest opened his books, but he could basically feel the pouts of his two friends on his bed behind him. When did they even get so close?!  
“Jaebum-ah!” Jackson whined cutely and nudged Yugyeom to do the same.  
“Jaebum-ah~!” Yugyeom joined him.  
“Jaebum-ah~!” “Jaebum-ah~!” “Jaebum-ah~!” “Jaebum-ah~!” “Jaebum-ah~!”

Jackson was probably more versed in this because he had more experience, but he was the first to see the signs: the tensing shoulders, the white knuckles of his fists and the angry growl constantly growing louder. Before Jaebum could explode, Jackson said, “Ok, Gyeom, let’s get out of here.”, took Yugyeom piggyback and ran out of his room.  
Jaebum sighed and rubbed his temple. How could two insolent idiots just get along that well? Well, it was still better than the alternative. He chuckled to himself. Though annoying, they were cute together.

\---

Jackson felt Yugyeom nuzzle into his shoulder and his racing heart through the shirts on his back. Or was it his own? He wasn’t sure. “Hyung!” Yugyeom mumbled sleepily and tightened his hold on Jackson’s shoulders. This time Jackson was sure, it was his own heart speeding up, he just wasn’t sure why. Yugyeom wasn’t that heavy that he couldn’t bear it and he’d done longer sprints without getting out of breath. “Is there still Kimbap?” Yugyeom mumbled and Jackson remembered just now that they had broken off their early lunch too soon and hadn’t eaten since. It was evening now and the sun was already about to set. He found a plant bed that had stone borders high enough so they could sit on them. He sat Yugyeom down and together they ate the rest of the Kimbap.

Yugyeom seemed too sleepy to engage in a serious(?) conversation, so Jackson took over, watching the people that walked past them and spinning out stories for them and what they might be thinking.  
“When I get home, I got an hour to read ‘Superbrains VS Hellmonsters’ before my wife arrives.” He mumbled when a middle aged man in a suit walked past them and Yugyeom giggled. “What about that guy?” he pointed at a guy with ripped jeans, a band t-shirt and earphones in his ears, nodding his head in a rhythm. “Oh, he pretends to listen to punk rock to impress his friends, but his favorites are more of the acoustic and ballad variety like 10cm, Urban Zakapa and Vanilla Acoustic. He doesn’t know that his best friend secretly has a huge crush on Girlfriend.” Yugyeom grinned satisfied and Jackson felt incredibly satisfied too.  
“I like that.”, the younger said.

Jackson walked Yugyeom to the bus station and they bid their goodbyes, each going their way home.

\---

The next day, as soon as Jackson came to school, he was called in by their home teacher. Yugyeom was already sitting in the counseling room, a guilty look on his face. The teacher reprimanded them for leaving school early and the chemistry room in a mess. Again. “You’re suspended from the chemistry rooms, according to Mr. Lee for forever, but I’m not really sure he can do that.” Mr. Park said, “You’ll submit written essays instead of your experiment, but you’ll have to do additional library service during chemistry class time. Just sorting some books back and that stuff. Also, you both get detention for skipping school yesterday.” he flopped their detention slips onto the desk, “And now, shoo!” The teacher waved his hand for them to get out. They stood up, bowed with a low “sorry” and scurried off.

“I’m sorry I dragged you into this.” Jackson said genuinely as they walked along the hall side by side.  
But Yugyeom just smiled at him. “I don’t regret what we did yesterday, it was fun.”  
“Well, you say that because you won all the games!” Jackson grumbled sulkily and Yugyeom laughed.

They went into their classroom and each to their seats. From his seat in the back Jackson could see Bambam and Yugyeom talking animatedly to each other. Bambam laid a hand over Yugyeom’s shoulder, pressed him close and Yugyeom looked so, so happy. Jackson knew he was friends with Yugyeom for barely a day and had no right to feel like this, but he felt queasy in his stomach and he couldn’t look at their display of affection. It had always been like this. Bambam was the only person who could make Yugyeom laugh and was allowed to lay his hands and limbs all over him. It was not that Jackson didn’t like them, at least now that he got to know Yugyeom better and spent time with him, it was just really childish and annoying. Doodling on his notebook, he ignored them until the class started.

\---

Bambam and Yugyeom had vanished for lunch break, like they always did. So when Yugyeom arrived a bit late after at the library, Jackson might have been sulking a little bit unreasonably.  
“What were you and Bambam doing that you’re so late?” He asked and wanted to slap himself right after. It was not like it was his business what Yugyeom did in his free time, he was not his boyfriend.  
But Yugyeom only replied, totally oblivious, “We were eating lunch. What else should we have done?”, and blinked in confusion. Jackson just waved a hand at him to forget it and explained their tasks to him: sorting books, that the students left laying, back into the shelves.

They each worked for themselves, sometimes Jackson would come to Yugyeom, asking what kind of signature the book had and where it belonged. When Yugyeom told him where it belonged without fail for the 22nd time (at times he was just pulling out random books to test him) he couldn’t help but tease him. “You really know your way around here! Don’t tell me you’re a bookworm!”  
The younger just chuckled. “No, no. Jinyoung used to work here and since Youngjae had a huge crush on him, but didn’t want to go alone, he dragged us here often.”  
Jackson blinked. “That Youngjae from the club? He goes here, too?”  
“He graduated last year. He’s currently earning money to go to university next year.”  
“Last year?! Wait! He’s actually older than you?”  
Yugyeom laughed and nodded.

“Less talking and more working, please!” the librarian scolded them and they hurried to do their work. They were glad when it was finally over, carrying books all around the library for an hour was quite the physical work.

In class once more, Yugyeom went to Bambam again (well, they were sitting together…) and Jackson just watched them interact.

It was not like he didn’t want to be friends with people in the class, but he was 2 years older than them and most of them knew each other since middle school. Though most of them probably just kept their distance from him to not be dragged into his chaotic shenanigans. Now that he thought about it, Yugyeom was the only one who didn’t seem to mind. Right at that moment, Yugyeom looked up at him from his seat, grinned and waved at him. Jackson grinned and waved back, his earlier insecurities feeling suddenly stupid.

When they were alone again during detention, Jackson took the chance to ask. “Hey, Gyeom, do you have plans for the weekend?” The younger shook his head, so he continued, “Do you want to hang out and do the chemistry essay together?”  
“Sure why not, that’s a good idea.” He grinned mischievously, “As long nothing’s going to explode!” Jackson pretended to sulk. “I don’t mess up _everything_.” Yugyeom giggled and bit his lips when the teacher entered, telling them to go home.

It was still Thursday and there were still 1 1/2 days of school before the weekend started, but Jackson was already excited and when he walked home, his step was elated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> criticism is welcome


	4. Baby, is your hobby breakdance, I got a crush on you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Saturday~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~Oh gosh why am I so sleepy~~
> 
>  
> 
> I had quite the difficulties with this chapter and I am not reeeaally satisfied with it, so I'm sorry, next one will be better, .. I hope.
> 
> This one also contains some cuddles dedicated to Mikamela, thank you so much for your support! Also I really had a hole in the fic there I didn't know how to fill
> 
> Also, very, very smool tiny easteregg for xxTheSkateboardingTurtlexx

Sunday came and when Jackson pulled his curtains aside, he was greeted with another set of curtains of rain. His smile crumbled and he pouted. He had hoped to avoid studying and going out for some time. Well, maybe he could prepare some games to play or movies to watch.

When he finished setting up his materials for the essay, his favorite DVDs and his game console, he run down into the kitchen, helping his mother to prepare snacks for them. She was confused as he had rarely helped before and if he did, not without grumbling. Jackson ignored the cheeky looks of his mother, he was too excited to sit still.

He got slowly worried when it was 5 minutes after the agreed time and Yugyeom hadn’t arrived yet, but his mother comforted him that he probably just came a bit late. Jackson got restless when the 5 minutes became 10, then 30 and eventually it was 40 minutes later and there was still no sign of Yugyeom.  
“Mom, I’ll go search for him!” Jackson grabbed a large umbrella and ran out of the door.

The air was cold and the wind slapped the rain into his face despite the umbrella, but Jackson was relentless. He run through the streets, stopping at times to look into the side streets if Yugyeom was roaming there, having lost his way. But wherever he went, Yugyeom was nowhere to be found. Jackson cursed that they hadn’t exchanged phone numbers. What were they doing the whole week? Where did he leave his brain when he arranged time and place with Yugyeom?

Through the splatters of rain he faintly heard a sudden yell and ran towards it. He stopped at an intersection, not knowing where to go. Suddenly a few bullies he had crossed often in this neighborhood came out of one of the streets and run past him. They looked quite injured with blue eyes and bleeding lips, and with a sick feeling in his gut, Jackson ran to where they came from.

In a back alley he saw him: kneeling down and talking to a little boy, making sure he wasn’t hurt, before the boy saw Jackson and ran away.  
“Yugyeom!” Jackson yelled. He ran over to the younger and held the umbrella over his head, even though he was soaked through and through anyway. Standing close Jackson could see that Yugyeom was just as injured as the bullies. His lip was bleeding and there was a swelling building over his left eye. He had several scratches on his cheeks and his knuckles were bruised.

The relief he had felt at his sight was quickly replaced with anger, growing the more he saw of Yugyeom’s injuries and he clenched his hand around the umbrella, trying to not let it overrun his mouth.  
“The fuck Yugyeom!!” Jackson felt himself bursting.  
“Sorry, I’m late, aren’t I? I would have called but I didn’t know your number.” the younger apologized with bowed head. But Jackson felt just more rage welling up. “That’s not the fucking point!!! You can’t just jump into fights without care!!” he yelled, “You’re a dancer for fucks sake, take care of your body!! You can be lucky that you only got a few scratches!! How will you dance if someone breaks your leg?! Such a shit move could ruin your future career!!”  
“Jackson…” Yugyeom stood up and took the umbrella from Jackson’s hands, “What should I have done? Let them beat up the small boy?” He said pouting and pointed to where the boy had vanished to. “I’m okay. Also, I don’t even know if I’m going to dance professionally.”  
Jackson gasped indignantly, somehow even more shocked about that statement than the bruises, “Why wouldn’t you?!”  
“Wha- .. a-a-achoooo!” Yugyeom sneezed before he could reply.  
“Okay, we’re going to talk about this later. Now let’s get you home and into the warmth.” As Yugyeom was still holding the umbrella, Jackson grabbed his hand and pulled him towards his home.

\---

Jackson stifled a laugh when Yugyeom came out of the showers. His hair was still wet and he was toweling it, which would have been quite a sexy picture if he weren’t wearing Jackson’s clothes that were far too short for him. The wide jeans he usually rolled up at the ends passed barely as ‘high-water’ before it was ‘too ridiculously short’ and even though Yugyeom was taller, his hips were a little bit smaller, letting the jeans hang low. The biggest t-shirt Jackson had was admittedly wide, but it was not exactly long as it showed, with the toweling motion, his happy trail. Okay, maybe that was sexy. Jackson might have stared a little bit too much when Yugyeom cleared his throat.

“L-let me treat your wounds.” Jackson stuttered, the view of Yugyeom in his own clothes suddenly putting completely different images into his head. He shook his head to keep them off.

Jackson had just finished bandaging his hand and sticking Hello Kitty plasters onto his cheeks (“Really?! I’m not a kid!” “Stay still, it’s cute and together you’re the cutest.”) when Jackson’s mom brought them hot chocolates and a cold pack for Yugyeom’s eye.

“Soooo…” Jackson started when his mother had left and they were both sitting cross legged on the bed, drinking their chocolates, “what was that about you and not dancing professionally?”  
Yugyeom sighed. ”I-I don’t know. It’s just… I like dancing, but I never thought about it that way…”  
“BUT YOU HAVE TO!” Jackson suddenly bursted out. “I mean, you’re fantastic! You’re better than all these people on TV!!”  
Yugyeom blushed. “Thank you.” he mumbled. “I-I’ll think about it.”  
“Yes, please.” Jackson grinned satisfied and clapped him carefully on the back. “Don’t let people tell you what to do. But you should definitely dance.”  
Yugyeom chuckled.

“So, do you want to watch a movie or do you want to play a game?” Jackson continued after a short break.  
Yugyeom blinked at him. “Didn’t we want to write an essay?”  
“Yeah, well, but you’re injured, you should rest.” He answered cheekily and Yugyeom laughed.

\---

Yugyeom scrambled through Jackson’s DVDs and Jackson smiled, happy to have him convinced. (Though honestly, he didn’t put up much of a fight.) They found some movies they had in common but in the end, Yugyeom chose an action movie he didn’t know yet. “Bambam always forces me to watch ‘Shopaholic’.” He remarked.  
“What is ‘Shopaholic’?” Jackson asked, throwing him a confused look as he put the DVD into the player.  
“It has Hugh Dancy in it.” is all Yugyeom said.  
Jackson hummed and started the movie. He got a weird, too familiar feeling when it started but he just ignored it. But then suddenly, instead of the violent movie trailers that always came in front, Pororo’s title theme started to play and next to him Yugyeom was laughing so much that he rolled from the bed onto the floor. Jackson scrambled hastily to remove the DVD. He would like to say that it was a strange happening and that he could not have foreseen this. But in hindsight, he remembered that had the rather lazy habit to put DVDs back into the next available case.

Yugyeom chose to take this up as a challenge. Each of them would choose some movies and one after another they would play them without looking at the disk for the title. (Jackson reassured himself quickly in his mind that he had all the _dangerous_ DVDs stacked away in a box under his bed. At least those were neat.)

They discovered some movies that were actually in their own cases and Yugyeom would make a show of surprised clapping for which Jackson would always shove him. While Yugyeom was still laughing on the floor, Jackson put in the next disk. He scooted back to Yugyeom when the main menu started to show. Suddenly, a white faced figure with fatty black hair and distorted eyes jumped into the screen and Jackson screamed.

It was that horror movie Jaebum had once bought him as a joke. In his fright, Jackson had thrown his arms around Yugyeom. “Is it still there?” he asked into the taller's chest. Yugyeom’s arms sneaked around him and while they were rubbing his back in comfort, his voice was vibrating with laughter as he said “yes.”  
“Yugyeom~” Jackson whined as he could still hear the creepy background music playing. Yugyeom chuckled. “Is it gone?” He asked again and Yugyeom laughed. “Jackson, I can’t get it to stop if you’re clinging to me!”  
“Try!” Jackson only said. Yugyeom dragged himself and a very uncooperative Jackson in his arms towards the player and stopped the DVD.

But Jackson didn’t untangle himself from Yugyeom.  
“Did people ever told you, that you’re really good to cuddle with?”  
He couldn’t see Yugyeom’s crimson face when the latter stuttered. “We-we should probably stop this game.” He stood up and pulled a pouting Jackson off him. With the back to Jackson he searched for the right DVD and sat back onto the bed when he had started it. Jackson sat next to him and cuddled a bit into his side. As the movie went, Yugyeom relaxed more and more and cuddled back.

\---

When Yugyeom left in the evening, they had barely done anything for their essay, but they had watched and made fun of some movies and played several games which Jackson all lost. (“Those are _my_ games!! How can you beat me even at my _own_ games??!”)  
The rain had stopped and Jackson accompanied him to the bus station. This time they thought about exchanging phone numbers. “And the next time you see a little boy in trouble, stay put and call me. Me and my boys will take care of it.”  
“Your boys?” Yugyeom chuckled.  
“Yeah, well, so far it’s just me and JB, but he’s a really good fighter!”  
The younger nodded, “Will do. It was fun, thank you for inviting me. See you on Monday!”  
“See you!”

On Monday morning, when Jackson came into the classroom, Yugyeom was already there, chattering away with Bambam. He took a deep breath and walked towards them. "Good morning, delivery for Yugyeom." He greeted cheerfully and put a plastic bag onto the desk. Yugyeom turned around and smiled. "My clothes?" Jackson nodded. "Thanks! My mom’s going to wash yours today, I’ll bring them once they're dry.”  
Jackson chuckled. “It’s okay, I barely wear those anyway. And they looked really good on you.”  
Yugyeom laughed. "Let's go to the library together later?"  
"Yeah, sure!"

When he went to his own desk, he could feel Bambam’s weird looks behind his back. He ignored them and prepared his notes for class.

\---

The lunch break was over soon and their next class was chemistry, which meant library duty for Jackson and Yugyeom. Yugyeom was nowhere to be seen, as he had run out with Bambam at the beginning of break as usual and hadn’t returned yet.

Jackson searched for them all over the schoolyard, but without success. He asked a classmate of theirs if she had seen them. “They always eat behind the gym hall.” The girl answered him. He nodded in thanks and run towards it. He knew he was right when he could hear their voices. Shortly before he was about to turn around the corner, he stopped as he heard them mention his name. Slowly he crept closer, listening in on their conversation.  
“I-I don’t know what you mean.” Yugyeom stuttered.  
“Uhuh.” Bambam replied, obviously not believing him.  
“Okay, so maybe I had a crush on him in Middle School, but-”  
“A crush?”, Bambam laughed amused, “You were obsessed! You went to almost all of his fencing matches and if you couldn’t go you watched frigging fancams! You were basically drooling when they had sports class outside and we could watch them. And don’t tell me you’re not like that anymore. Until recently you couldn’t even look at him and now you even share clothes? Are you already sleeping together? What's going on? Spill the beans!”  
Yugyeom sighed.  
“It’s just the usual Jackson thing. He gets along with everyone. He’d never… with someone like me… I don’t even know if he likes guys.”  
“Oh, Gyeommie. He’d be an idiot to not like you back.”  
“Haha!” Yugyeom laughed without humor, “I barely got him to be friends with me, but, Bambam, I feel so so happy just being with him.”  
“Just be careful to not get yourself hurt.”

Jackson felt dazed. He slowly made his way back, careful to not be discovered. He run the way back to the building and went straight to the restrooms. He needed a moment to think. Yugyeom had a crush on him, he _liked_ him. No matter how much Jackson thought about it, he didn’t know what to do or think. However, 5 minutes later, when the bell rang, he had no choice but to go to the library for his extra duty with Yugyeom.

When he arrived, a bit too late, Yugyeom grinned at him happily and Jackson felt his stomach flip. He tried to smile back, but he knew it looked more reluctant than usual. They made each their tasks in silence and Jackson could feel Yugyeom’s worried and confused glances at the back of his head. He couldn’t hold it against him, he knew he was weird, but the thought of Yugyeom crushing on him didn’t leave his mind. Even as they moved back to take the next class, Yugyeom trudged behind Jackson, nobody knowing what to say.

When class ended, Jackson packed his backpack at the speed of light, he needed to get out of there. He ran out of the school before Yugyeom could question him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry?


	5. Baby, are you a nurse, I'm sick of being single

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackson is sick and struggles with feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of angst in this chapter, sorry ㅠㅠ

“Jackson.”, Jaebum sighed, “You are my best friend and I like you and all, but I really need to study!” He looked pointedly at the bundle that laid on his bed. The younger had just barged in without saying a word and threw himself onto it. Showing no reaction to his teasing, Jaebum got honestly worried. “Jackson? What happened?” After a moment, Jackson jumped up to a sitting position. He sighed before he blurted, “Yugyeom has a crush on me.” He looked expectantly at the older, but Jaebum looked unimpressed.

“... And?” he asked.  
“And what?” Jackson asked back irritated.  
“Well, where is the problem? You got along with him well despite it. It’s not like he just crushed on you since yesterday.”  
Jackson’s eyes widened. “Yo-you knew?!”  
Jaebum looked surprised at him. “It was not really subtle. He constantly asked about you at the club. But even before it was obvious, like when we had basketball in sports class one day and we played outside, Yugyeom was so focused on you, he didn’t even see the ball coming. Don’t you remember?”  
“Of course I remember him being hit by a ball! I myself brought him to the infirmary. He was really cute and nice then.” Jackson grinned at the memory as Yugyeom had apologized profusely though it was not even his fault and the bump on his head had been no joke. “I wanted to apologize the next day, but aside from the sport court it’s difficult to interact with the Middle Schoolers, even though it all belongs together.”

Jaebum narrowed his eyes on him. “What exactly happened that your opinion changed?”  
Jackson laughed bitterly, “Bambam had introduced us at a party. He was really awkward then and he seemed to constantly avoid me. And, I don’t know. When I got into his class, I was rather happy, but when I greeted him on the first day he just avoided me again and continued to be all awkward around me and- and… he always hung around Bambam, I thought they were an item.”  
Jackson looked helplessly to his old friend. The other just nodded.  
“Okay. But now you know that they’re not and that he didn’t avoid you because he couldn’t stand you. So how do you feel about him?”  
Jackson blinked at him confused. “How I--?”  
Jaebum sighed and buried his face in his hands. “Jackson, don’t tell me you never thought about _your_ feelings?”  
Jackson pursed his lips, which made Jaebum just groan more.  
“Oh dammit, Jackson. Come back when you re-evaluated your feelings for Yugyeom.”  
“Yo-you’re probably right. Yeah, I will. Thanks, man.” Jackson sniffed.  
“...”  
Jackson pulled a tissue out of his pockets and blew his nose.  
“Jackson, are you crying?” Jaebum’s brows vanished under his hairline.  
“Noooo, my nose is just a little bit clogged up. Has been the whole day.”  
“Are you coming down with something?”  
Jackson coughed a little bit, “A Jackson Wang never gets sick!” he bursted out.  
“You also said that in Middle School”, Jaebum was unimpressed, “and you got 42 missing days because of sickness.”  
“Oh shut up.” Jackson grumbled and stood up to go.  
“Oh, and Jackson!” Jaebum called after him, “You said you have no problem with your classmates ignoring you, but you did seem quite upset when it was about Yugyeom doing it. You might want to think about that too.”

\---

On Tuesday he skipped school. He curled himself up in his blanket and told his mother that he wasn’t feeling well. Well, his coughing and sniffing had been real. He slowly got the feeling that he actually had gotten a cold. It still didn’t stop him from getting the club’s address from Jaebum and going there in the evening.

Youngjae was at the reception table again and recognized him. “Hey, you’re Yugyeom’s .. er, friend? Classmate?”  
“Friend.” Jackson laughed, though he wasn’t really sure either. “My name is Jackson, by the way.”  
“Youngjae.”  
“I know.” Jackson grinned. “The librarian’s boyfriend.”  
Youngjae blushed, “Yugyeom told you?”  
Jackson told him about their library duty and how well Yugyeom knew all the signatures and labels.  
“How are things, is he still angry you work here?” He asked carefully, avoiding the question that was really bothering him.

Youngjae grinned widely and Jackson had for a moment the fear he could read his actual thoughts. But then Youngjae bursted out in a prattle about how they made up and made a compromise, omitting the right parts for Jackson’s taste, only noticeable in the blush and stutter at times.  
“Are you here again to see Yugyeom? He’s already there, I could get him for you, if you want.” Youngjae smiled after he had finished swooning for his boyfriend. Well, at least Jackson got his question answered without even asking it.  
“No, no. I’d rather he doesn’t not know I’m here.” Jackson answered sheepishly.  
“Is everything okay with you?” Youngjae asked carefully.  
Jackson nodded and went in even though the younger didn’t look convinced.

It wasn’t long before the first battle started and Yugyeom was again the first to dance. Jackson’s heart sank when it was obvious that he was not in his best form. His dancing was still good, but it had lost any of its usual energy and enthusiasm. Yugyeom won his battles despite it, but at the 4th battle he forfeited and left the club. Jackson followed him, avoiding the worried glances of Youngjae, and walked a few steps behind him, until the younger leaned against a wall, sank to the floor and broke down. He hid around the corner, listening to Yugyeom wail and cry. He wanted to run to him, hug him and comfort him, but he couldn’t without being clear about his own feelings or how to handle Yugyeom’s. So he waited until Yugyeom calmed down and continued to walk, before he too walked home.

The next day, he woke up with an awful headache, dry mouth and was unable to breathe through his nose.

\---

“Oh, Jackson. Why am I not surprised.” Jaebum sighed.  
“I love you too, Jaebum.” Jackson replied in a nasal voice and blew into his tissue.  
“Yeah, well, tell that Yugyeom.” Jaebum clapped him on the shoulder and stood up. “It was nice talking to you, but I got an afternoon course.”  
“You just came! How can you-” Jackson took a moment to cough, “leave a sick friend like this?! Who’s going to take care of me?”  
“Don’t worry, I got a substitute.” Jaebum grinned cheekily. There was a knock on the door. “Speaking of the devil.”  
The door opened slowly and Yugyeom poked his head in. Jackson hoped the glare he threw Jaebum would kill him at least halfway, but the older looked more energized than ever.

“He-hey.” he stepped in, nodded a greeting to Jaebum and stood a bit awkwardly in the room.  
“Take good care of him.” Jaebum clapped him on the shoulder and left with a _giggle_. Jackson had never heard Jaebum ever giggle in his life and there he went and _giggled_.

Yugyeom sat down on the chair Jaebum had just sat on and looked at anything but Jackson. “How are you?” Yugyeom mumbled to his hands. It was like their first chemistry class and Jackson _hated_ it.  
“For a dying man, I’m pretty fine.” he croaked, trying to joke.  
Yugyeom smiled a little bit at him and Jackson felt already a little bit better.

“At first I thought you were just avoiding me, but then Jaebum told me you were sick.”  
Jackson chuckled bitterly. “Jaebum that useless chatterbox.”  
“You could’ve just told me yourself, you know. I- I would have worried less.”  
“Yeah, I should have. I’m sorry.” Jackson felt a bit guilty. After all he was avoiding him, the sickness just came in handy. But now that Yugyeom was there, he was glad. He had thought quite a lot and had a vague idea of what he wanted to do. Now that Yugyeom was here, he could make himself sure, that his decision was right.

Yugyeom busied himself with pulling up Jackson’s cover, opening the windows and cleaning a bit of the mess that Jackson’s cold had left behind. (He took a pen to move the used tissues Jackson had carelessly thrown anywhere, into a plastic bag.) For a very short moment he sat down before he thought of something and jumped up again. “Wait a moment!” He went out the door and when he came back awhile later, he brought him tea. “It’s a recipe my mum gave me. It should help.” He shyly reached it over. “Careful, it’s still hot.”  
“Thank you.” Jackson took a sip, it was a bit bitter, but it was bearable.

After a short moment of awkward silence, Yugyeom bit his lip and then asked jokingly: “I was drenched by the rain, how come you’re the one who's sick?”  
Jackson blinked at him. “Weeell, I uh, er- it’s because I picked all the bacteria off of you and accidentally infected myself! I saved you, man!”  
Yugyeom laughed and Jackson chuckled along, he liked this Yugyeom better. But there was still something bothering him. Was it still because of Monday afternoon when Jackson had ignored him? Jackson wondered about it as his eyes got droopier and he fell asleep.

When he woke up again, Yugyeom was still there. He was flipping through one of his comic books and chuckled from time to time. Yugyeom didn’t realize that Jackson had woken and he used that chance to watch him as long as he could. Smiling like this, he looked so young and innocent.

It took just a moment though until Yugyeom looked up and smiled brightly. Jackson felt his heart stop.  
“You’re awake. Did you sleep well?”  
Jackson was still a bit groggy, he hadn’t slept much last night, but his headache was gone and his nose felt less clogged up.  
“Yeah. I- how long did I sleep?” he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up a little bit.  
“Just for an hour. Your comics are really fun.” he held up the Hawkeye comic he had been reading. “Oh! I saw something I really would like to do!” He put the comic away and pulled a dusty box out of one of Jackson’s shelves. “I really, really would love to play this!” Yugyeom held up the package of a board game with the title “Jack and the Beanstalk”.  
“I haven’t played that in ages!” Jackson said in amazement, “Only under one condition! I get a sickness handicap!”

Yugyeom laughed and nodded. Jackson sat up a bit straighter so they could set up the game on his lap. It was a kind of snakes and ladders game. ‘Sickness handicap’ meant that Jackson got to choose a few slides he didn’t need to go down and others he was allowed to climb like a ladder instead. After three rounds Jackson got the creeping suspicion that Yugyeom was still letting him win. But it was not like he was complaining.

After the 5th round they agreed that the game got lame. They put the board game away and sat in awkward silence again.  
“Can I.. can I do something else for you?” The younger asked after a moment. Jackson thought about it.   
“I want a chocolate pudding!” he grinned cheekily. “There are two in the fridge!” Yugyeom laughed and stood up to get him his pudding.

While spooning his pudding, Jackson thought of his worries before he fell asleep.  
“Yugyeom…” he said carefully, “about Monday, I-” he hesitated a moment and Yugyeom used the chance to interrupt him.  
“You heard, didn’t you?” he said, fumbling with his spoon and empty pudding cup, “I mean… what I said to Bambam…”  
Jackson coughed awkwardly, he wasn’t sure if he should just admit it or rather lie. “Jimin said you searched for me, but you never came, so I thought you must’ve heard.” Yugyeom nodded and bit his lips. “And Youngjae told me you were at the club yesterday.”  
Jackson groaned, “Why is everyone I know a chatterbox!”  
Yugyeom chuckled a little bit bitterly before he got serious again.

“I-I’m sorry, I understand i-if you can’t return my feelings or-or if you don’t want to have anything to do with me, I-”  
Yugyeom looked like he was about to cry again and Jackson just wanted to stand up from his bed and embrace him, but he felt like that wasn’t fair to the younger boy. (Also not necessarily healthy.)  
“Yugyeom,” he said instead, “don’t- I just need time to think. But all I know so far is that I really like spending time with you.”  
Yugyeom at least smiled a bit at that.

“Oh, I got class notes for you. The notes from Tuesday are a bit incomplete, but I got sure I got everything from today.” He reached Jackson a stack of note papers. Jackson cheered happily. “Gyeom! You saved me again!”  
“Well, you saved me from the cold, so..” Yugyeom chuckled. “Well, I need to go, I still got homework to do.”

“I guess I’ll be well until Monday. I see you then?” Jackson said as the other stood and took his bag.  
Yugyeom nodded. ”If you need someone to beat your ass in a game until then, you got my number.” he joked.  
Jackson laughed, “There’s only one ass that needs beating, and that’s not mine!”  
“Get well soon!” Yugyeom chuckled and opened the door.  
“Thank you for taking care of me!” Jackson blurted.  
“Sure, I loved to- I mean,” Yugyeom blushed and started to stutter. “I-I see you on Monday.”

When Yugyeom had closed the door behind him, Jackson fell back onto his bed with a huff. He threw an arm over his eyes and sighed.  
“I’m such a coward.” he mumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will they get together? You'll see in the finale.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Maybe. *evil laughter*


	6. Baby, you're so sexy my nose won't stop bleeding (Or maybe I really just got punched in the face)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The finale....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sangmin is a ~~plot device~~ original character, any concurrence with actual people is unintentional
> 
> I hope this is a satisfying ending!

When Jackson came to school the next day, he was a bit nervous of the necessary talk with Yugyeom. But when he came into the classroom, it was nothing he expected.

People stood around Yugyeom’s desk and a blur of voices made it impossible for Jackson to hear what was going on. He pushed through the people and saw Sangmin, a classmate he remembered as rather nasty, standing in front of a frustrated Yugyeom. “The fuck is going on?!” he said.  
“None of your business, Wang.” Sangmin stepped closer to Yugyeom, who flinched away from him. Jackson pushed him away from the taller boy by his chest and stepped in between them. “Excuse me,” he said in his most menacing voice, “but Yugyeom is my friend and if you’re threatening him, it _is_ my business.”

Sangmin growled. “Then tell him to stop stealing my shit.”  
Jackson laughed. “Yugyeom wouldn’t even steal a fly in a ratty supermarket. And who even wants to steal your shit? Do you even got any proof to suspect him?” He felt Yugyeom grab the back of his shirt, but there was no way he was backing off now. Nobody accused his friends just like that and especially no ratty Sangmin.

“I put my mp3 player into my locker last Wednesday and now it’s not there! Your _friend_ was the first to leave class that day. He even skipped the last class, had it very urgent. Probably panicked because of his guilt, huh?”  
Jackson allowed himself to be fluttered for a moment that Yugyeom was so eager to get to him. Then he crossed his arms and smirked. (He had copied that from Jaebum, though he knew it was not as menacing as his.)

“Firstly, maybe he got some other urgent emergency, you dumbass, not everything’s about you. Secondly, I know for a fact that every Thursday you skip math class to sit up on the roof smoking your rotty, stolen cigarettes and blowing music into your ears so loud that you wouldn’t even notice if the school building got demolished. So, I don’t really believe you when you say you only noticed now that you’re missing your mp3. You know what I think?” Jackson grabbed Sangmin’s bruised hand and pulled his sleeve up to reveal a row of sloppily applied band-aids. “It got stolen by some bullies on the weekend and now you’re looking for a chance to not look as stupid as you are and how to do that better than to suspect nice, innocent Yugyeom? Am I right or am I right?” He grinned as Sangmin pulled his arm off with a grimace.

But before Jackson could breathe the air of success, a fist was slammed into his face and he had trouble breathing at all as a terrible pain grew in his nose. Sangmin might’ve been a stupid ass, but he had a strong right, Jackson had to give him that.

He could faintly hear Yugyeom calling for him through the ringing in his ears. He only realized he was lying on the floor when Yugyeom tried to heave him up. Leaning onto the taller student, they moved towards the infirmary.  
“I just got my nose breathable again and now this! Is that the revenge for when I sent you to the infirmary 3 years ago?” Jackson mumbled when he ears got clear again.  
“You remember that?” Yugyeom asked surprised.  
“Yeah, of course I do. You were really cute back then.” Jackson cursed inwardly. This fist had hit him really, really hard, he must’ve got a concussion for him to say such things. Though he could watch Yugyeom blush, which wasn’t bad either.

“Oh dear, what happened there?” the nurse said as they arrived at the infirmary.  
“I ran against a parking fist” Jackson joked, but nobody laughed. He slowly got the suspicion that his nose looked as awful as it felt.

She cleaned him up as much as she could, but told them to go to the hospital for further check ups she wasn’t able to do in the sparely equipped infirmary. Yugyeom went with him.

\---

“Thank you for stepping in for me.” Yugyeom said once they sat in the bus to the hospital. The nurse had notified their homeroom teacher and trusted them to go alone, since she couldn’t leave with them because of other sick students.  
“It’s nothing. Sangmin is an ass and he’s just jealous.”  
“Yeah, but he gave you a bloody nose. That’s why nobody want’s to go against him. He used to do kickboxing.”  
“Really?” Jackson said incredulously, “How come he got robbed by a bunch of bullies then? I bet he’s only good at attacking unsuspecting people, but he’s useless in a fight.”  
Yugyeom chuckled. “You’re probably right. I’m still scared of him.”  
“Don’t be. He’s nothing against the bullies in my neighborhood and you already fought them. But, don’t worry, I won’t let him fight you.”  
“Please be careful.” Yugyeom said as they were getting off the bus. “I don’t want to see you like this again.”

Yugyeom sat in the waiting room while Jackson got his check ups. When they told him that he was fine and could go home, he sat down next to the younger.

“Well,” Jackson started without looking at him, “class is almost over anyway-”  
“If we get going now we would still make it for the last 4 hours of class.” Yugyeom remarked.  
“Class is almost over anyway,” Jackson spoke a bit louder, this time with a pointed gaze and he could see the younger smiling at him, “how about we get a coffee. Together, I mean.” he ended a bit awkwardly.  
“Okay,” Yugyeom stood up, “but you pay.”  
“Why do I have to pay?!” Jackson ran after a giggling Yugyeom out of the hospital, “I’m hurt and I have the hospital bill to pay!!”

\---

Jackson grumpily paid for his coffee and Yugyeom’s chocolate shake. “You’re the older one, the older one always pays, hyung.” Yugyeom explained as they fetched their order and Jackson was still grumbling ‘why’s and ‘how’s. He stopped in his step and Yugyeom turned with a questioning look. “Why did I never think of this when I was with Jaebum?! Dammit!”

They sat down at a table by the windows, watching the autumn weather outside.  
“Thanks again for saving me earlier.” Yugyeom said, “But how did you know that he’s on the roof on Thursdays?”  
Jackson grinned sheepishly. “I used to do the same in my previous years, so of course I walked up there too. But his smoke was disgusting and when I came back there several times, hoping he’d be gone, I soon realized he was always there.” He grumbled and wrinkled his nose before the pain hit him again and he groaned. “He doesn’t know what’s good, these cigarettes of his are awful!”  
Yugyeom chuckled. “I know, right? His plasters weren’t even Hello Kitty.” Jackson laughed loudly. “But even if they were, he would never look as cute as you!”

Yugyeom blushed and Jackson hiccuped when he realized what he had said. “I mean…”, he scratched his cheek, “I-I, er… what I want to say…”  
Jackson sighed and let his head fall onto the table. “I’m really not good at this.”  
“You-you don’t have to, if you don't want to.” Yugyeom said and fumbled with his chocolate shake.

Jackson looked up at him, “But I want to.” He sat up straight again, Yugyeom was still looking into his shake. “You too remember when I accidentally hit you with the basketball, right?” Yugyeom nodded. “I… honestly I think I got a little crush on you back then. But then, when Bambam introduced us at the party, you-”  
“What party?” Yugyeom suddenly interrupted.

Jackson looked at him befuddled. “Bambam’s party. About one and a half year ago. He introduced us and then you were constantly running away from me and when I got to you, you were squirming and trying to get away from me!”  
The younger thought for a moment, “I usually never visited his parties, just once when-”, and then he remembered. “Oh.”

Jackson looked expectantly at him. Yugyeom blushed and fumbled with his fingers. “Well, uhm, the only reason I was at this party was because I lost a bet, uhm…”  
“What kind of bet?” Jackson was curious. Yugyeom blushed even harder. “He dared me to eat an old sandwich he discovered in his fridge.” He mumbled. Jackson’s eyes widened. “Why would you do that?!”

Yugyeom coughed. He mumbled something unintelligible before Jackson asked him to speak a bit louder. “He promised me to buy me tickets to one of your fencing matches. Anyhow, that’s not the point. The point is, that this sandwich was awful, I couldn’t make it and was forced onto this party and then my stomach started hurting and I was really awful. I barely remember that evening I felt so sick and the next day I was down with food poisoning.” he rambled on and rubbed his neck sheepishly when he was finished. Jackson blinked at him. “Okay, that sounds awful. Now that this is cleared, what about the first day of class! I greeted you, but you were really awkward with me then too and avoided me!”

Yugyeom coughed on his milkshake and the deep blush returned to his cheeks. “Well, uh, _that_ … I don’t know how you managed to come around the uniform regulations, but it was the first time you didn’t wear the usual trousers… uhm…”

Jackson tried to remember. He had a vague memory of all his trousers tumbling in the washing machine that day, so the only ones he could wear were… the skintight jeans. “Oh.” he said, realizing. And Yugyeom nodded, blushing even harder.

“The surprise that you were in my class and these- these trousers… I’m sorry.” Yugyeom buried his face in his hands.  
“No, no, don’t be.” Jackson could feel his heart beating faster at the fact that Yugyeom had reacted to him in skintight jeans like that. “But weren’t my thighs looking fat?” He couldn’t help but wonder. Yugyeom looked at him surprised. His whole face and ears were crimson red.  
“Bu-but your thighs are really sexy, I mean, they’re the best-… Oh god I can’t believe I’m really telling you this.” He crossed his arms on the table and buried his face in them.

Jackson remembered that they had been talking about something else and that he had drifted away from what he actually wanted to say. “O-okay, knowing that er, well.” He ruffled his hair, searching for the right words to say. “So, I might’ve had a crush on you back then. Anyway, I really liked you and wanted to know you better. But then you were avoiding me, now I know why. And when I saw you with Bambam, I- I didn’t quite like it and maybe I was a bit jealous-” he mumbled the word ‘jealous’, “But then we got such a fun time together and I- I- … You know, I thought about it a lot the last week. What you and Bambam have, what I and Jaebum have. I don’t want something like that, I-” Jackson hesitated and saw Yugyeom’s face slowly falling. So he took all his courage, “I want us to be more than that.” he blurted before he could get cold feet again.

Yugyeom looked at him with wide eyes. ”You mean…”  
“I-I know I can’t live up to your feelings”, he said insecurely, “You’re already- since middle school- and I, uhm… I know I want to be more than friends with you, but I- well, I’ve never done this before.”  
“Eeh?!” Yugyeom suddenly yelled surprised. “But you’re so popular!”  
Jackson blinked at him. “I don’t know where you got that from. I’m good at getting along with people. Or at least if they want to. But I never got anyone who actually wanted to be in a relationship with me or something.”  
Yugyeom still looked at him doubtfully.

“Which reminds me,” Jackson continued, “when did you actually fall for me?” He made an obnoxiously narcissistic pose to make the question less embarrassing.  
Yugyeom looked at his hands and grinned. “It was the first day of our 2nd year in middle school. Class had just started when you came running into the room.” he chuckled, trying not to laugh at the memory, “and, I remember it like it was yesterday, you stood confused in the room and then you said ‘Oh shit, I’m in high school now!’” Yugyeom blushed.

“Oh my god!” Jackson buried his face in his hands. “That was such an embarrassing moment! Why is this your _moment_! So embarrassing!”  
“Excuse me!” Yugyeom protested, “You just said your moment was when I got a ball to my face! Also, you were really cute then!”  
“Am not cute.” Jackson grumbled cutely. “You know what, next weekend let’s go on a date, a real one! And then we’ll have some romantic, manly _moments_ that’ll erase all this embarrassing stuff.”  
“How about we just do it now?” Yugyeom suggested shyly. “We still got time.”  
Jackson scrunched his nose carefully. “Nah, I don’t have my sexy, good-feel skinny jeans on.”  
The younger laughed, “Please, nooo~! I was so relieved that tuesday evening that you didn’t wear them!”  
Jackson laughed. “Okay, but this is not a real one, just a.. pre-date like thing.”  
Yugyeom nodded and smiled. He slurped his chocolate shake as fast as he could (there was not much left anyway) and urged Jackson to finish too.

\---

In lack of better ideas of what to do, they strolled through the city. When Jackson saw something interesting in one of the shop windows, he grabbed Yugyeom’s hand and dragged him into it to browse around. As long as he didn’t need to, he didn’t let go of it. Soon they were browsing several shops just for fun, laughing about cute items, trying on bizarre Hawaiian shirts and rummaging through sunglasses and funny hats.

“This one looks like you!” Yugyeom laughed, pointing at a nodding dog figure. Jackson tried to imitate the nodding motion and barked. Yugyeom laughed louder and ruffled his head like he would a dog’s.

Yugyeom was looking around an assortment of sunglasses when Jackson came up to him and put a snapback onto his head. The younger looked at him questioningly, but Jackson only nodded before he took the cap off of him again and went away. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Yugyeom shrugging and continuing his quest on funny sunglasses he could show him. Jackson breathed in relief, forcing his heartbeat back down. No suspicions raised.

“Yugyeom, let’s go!” Jackson said a bit later and walked out the door. Yugyeom hurried after him confused. “Why are we already leaving?” he said from behind him as Jackson waited outside. But without saying anything, Jackson turned around, his cheeks warm and his heart beating steadily in his chest as he put the snapback from earlier onto Yugyeom’s head again. Then he pulled another out of the bag and put it on his own head. It was exactly the same as Yugyeom’s.

Yugyeom turned the cap on his head and leaned down to kiss him on the cheek. Jackson gasped and touched where his lips had met his skin. His heart was beating faster and he knew he was blushing even harder.  
“Too much too fast?” Yugyeom asked worried and bit his lip.  
“I- I actually liked that.” Jackson mumbled and giggled. Then he stopped. “Wait.” he let the hand fall from his face and looked accusingly at Yugyeom. “I’m the older one, so I’m going to take the lead!” The younger chuckled, “Yes, hyung~”. They stood for a moment awkwardly until Jackson groaned in frustration. Lowly he mumbled, “Can you come down a little bit?” Yugyeom laughed, but leaned his face into Jackson’s direction. Jackson kissed his cheek in return and smiled satisfied.

They went to eat together (McDonald’s, this was no real date after all and Jackson didn’t have a lot of money on him, Yugyeom promised he would pay the next time) and walked hand in hand through a nearby park after.

“Ah!” Yugyeom suddenly stopped. “Bambam forced me to ask you something.” he said sheepishly.  
“You didn’t eat another of his sandwiches, did you?” Jackson retorted skeptically.  
“No!” Yugyeom giggled, but Jackson thought it was a serious thing and he really needed a talk with Bambam. “He wants me to ask you if Jaebum does by any chance like guys?”  
Jackson snorted. “Really? Jaebum and Bambam?” Yugyeom shrugged. “Well, Jaebum says that he’s straight, but I’ve seen him staring too many times at too many male butts, I wouldn’t be too sure. I’d help him, but he needs to stop poisoning my boyfriend.”  
It was a pleasure to watch Yugyeom’s cheeks and ears turn redder and redder.  
“It was only once…” he mumbled, bit his lips and looked away.  
“Oh my god! You’re lying again!” Jackson took everything back, Bambam could fight on his own.

\--- 

(On the next Saturday they had their date at the amusement park. Everything went almost perfect.

Almost. The weather forecast had said it would be sunny, but as they arrived at the entrance of the park, the spray of rain still didn’t stop. However, that wouldn’t discourage them. The food that gravitated mysteriously towards their clothes rather than their mouths didn’t either. Especially not the strange stain it made on Jackson’s crotch. (Yugyeom thought it rather funny until Jackson purposefully got him a similar one.) Even as they had stood for half an hour at a ride only to get told that it was closed due to the rain when it was their turn, they still didn’t lose the hope to find the fun in this damn park. Finally, the bumper cars worked for them, as they forcefully drove into other cars happily. Especially the car number 9 was amusing to crash with. Until they realized that, to some unknowable reason, it was Jaebum who sat in that car. The rest of the day was more of a run and hide.

“You know what,” Jackson whispered as they hid behind a waste bin, “Let’s just keep our old moments.”  
Yugyeom nodded.

  
“You’re too tall for this bin, Yugyeom.”

 

 

And if they kept running, they lived ever after.

~The End~)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :0 I can't believe it's already the end!! (Okay I can, I'm incredibly tired lol, this chaptered stuff is stressful)
> 
> I thank you all for reading it until the end!! I hope you had fun!!!
> 
> Special thanks go to xxTheSkateboardingTurtlexx who encouraged me to write this and supported me at the beginning even before I posted the first chapter, and Mikamela who supported me throughout this whole thing and whose comments kept me going ;_;
> 
> criticism is still wanted if you got some.

**Author's Note:**

> criticism is welcome


End file.
